Plumbing

How To Save Money And Buy The Right New Water Heater

There are a lot of options if you are in the need for a new water heater and it is easy to spend more money than your should whether you are buying it yourself and installing it or hiring a plumber to install it for you.

The easiest replacement water heater is one of the same type. By type of water heater that means: The same Volume of Water, The same Power Source (Gas, Electric, Heat …

How To Choose A New Water Heater – Tankless, Standard, Heat Pump, Solar

Choosing a new water heater can be complex today because of all the available options but deciding which one is best for your home is going to be based on just a few simple factors.

If you have a traditional hot water heater now then you probably have a gas or electric hot water heater with a 40 to 80 gallon water tank. The water that is stored in your tank is kept at a …

How To Drill Your Own Sand Point Shallow Water Well

I was just answering a some questions about wells from a friend that is building their own home and put together some basic information about drilling your own sand point shallow well and I thought I would share.
What is a Sand Point Shallow Well?
The name Sand Point comes from the tip of the pipe that is used at the bottom of the well. It is the first section of pipe and it …

How To Diagnosing And Testing Your Well Water Pressure Tank

If your home is on a well for your water then you are responsible for maintenance of your water system. When things are working correctly you normally won’t see any difference between using a well for your water vs being on a utility provided water connection. Depending on the quality of your water and your home you will have a number of different parts to your system. You have your well pump …

How To Know When Its Time To Replace Your Water Heater

A friend writes us about their 27 year old water heater asking if they should just replace it now or whether they should wait until it fails. This is the kind of question that goes through most homeowners minds when they are up at night and can’t get to sleep. Do I need to replace or fix something relatively big in my house and if I do where do I start.

As the old saying …

How To – Waterproofing Block Wall Foundation After Exterior Water Line Leak

A friend of ours is asking for advice about waterproofing their block wall foundation after their water supply line leaked in their front yard and caused seepage into their basement. The line had been leaking for an extended period and saturated the ground and then with some moderate rain they experienced some slow leakage which resulted in some mold growth in their basement.

They have been asking a few people about the problem and have …

How To Patch Repair An Outside Water Supply Line

A friend contacted us about a situation they are having with the water supply in their home. They first noticed that their water bill for the previous month was much higher than normal. They then called in a plumber that suggested a replacement of their pressure valve and told them there was a leak in their outside supply line and the line had to be replaced from the street to the house.

They were quoted …

How To Choose A New Toilet

One of our friends is looking at new toilets and they are totally lost so they asked for some help on buying the best new toilet. Best is a relative term and all toilets will need repair on about a 5 year interval no matter what brand or type you purchase. For this reason I normally recommend that unless there is a specific need that you always go with the most basic type so …

How To Understand The Requirements Of Living In A Home With A Septic System

One of our friends is asking about what is required when living in a home with an on site septic system and what they can expect over time.

Many people live in rural areas that do not have city or county sewer service. If you do live in an area that has sewer services available to you your home might be required to hook up to the system and you may not be allowed to …

How To What To Do If The Kitchen Sink Won’t Drain

A friend of ours asks about a kitchen sink that had been draining slowly for some time and now it is very clogged. It seems that they tried removing the p-trap under the sink already and found that it was free of obstructions. They then replaced the p-trap to find that the sink is now so clogged that they need to plunge it to get water to move.

In this case they did the right …